


How the Stars Guided You Home

by GalaxyGhosty



Series: The Wolves and the Bears [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 01:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10206290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyGhosty/pseuds/GalaxyGhosty
Summary: AU. Jack starts drifting off when Mark talks again, though it seems like it’s to himself. “Sometimes I’m scared you won’t come back. That you’ll become that person who didn’t want me again, didn’t want us. I’m sorry I’m selfish. I don’t want to let you leave. Please don’t leave.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> i'm so sick of looking at this
> 
> I have been working on this hinted at sequel on and off since October, and because of things like TMD and various other projects, I really haven't gotten around to finishing it until now. I don't know how the inspiration came back but I burned through it and finished it up. It's a couple thousand words shorter than its predecessor, but I hope it's good nonetheless.
> 
> I wanted to do another part to this for a lot of reasons--I felt like the ending of IDMTTS was good and conclusive, yes, but I wanted to address what came after. Even though Jack made a conscious decision to accept Mark as a person, it didn't come without its own trial, and I wanted to highlight that. Plus, I wanted to show what sort of grief the relationship would have to work through, and Jack's overwhelming fear of the future. 
> 
> I don't want to spoil too much of the fic--there's still so much in this universe I've yet to explain, and I apologize if this fic seems to be a rehash of the last installment or if it's not that good. In the future, I may put up another work and have chapters--dedicated to "moments" that didn't fit into here or IDMTTS. Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in.
> 
> Anyway, enough of my babbling. Onto the story.

“I don't want you to worry,” Mark says, smoothing his hands over Jack’s shoulders. “It'll be fun. I promise.” 

Jack wrinkles his nose. “Mark, no offense, but I didn't even like the Solstice Celebration with my own clan. I highly doubt me being surrounded by a bunch of Bears is going to make me any bit comfortable.”

His mate smiles that secret smile, the private one that tells Jack he’s holding back or hiding something. “I've told you that you're free to return home should you wish to celebrate with your own clan. Not that I don't want you here, but I understand if you want to go home.” 

Jack rolls his eyes. He takes Mark’s hands in his own, and almost instantly, he's enveloping himself in Jack’s bubble. Not that he minds. He offers him a small smile in return, comforted at the contact. “It's not that I want to go home. I might go soon to visit Fe and Marzia, but I don't want to leave you. It's just…” 

He trails off, and Mark brushes their lips together in comfort. “You can tell me.” 

As though he doesn't already feel Jack’s anxiety, doesn't already feel the rock in his stomach and the shred of fear. “I know. It’s like...you'll know everyone. You grew up here. You grew up with them. And I'm…” 

_A Wolf_ , he thinks. _I'm a Wolf playing a Bear’s game._

“Enough of that,” Mark chides him. “They will love you. And if they don't, it won't be because you're a Wolf. And I'll punch anyone who says otherwise.” 

“Violent,” Jack comments dryly. 

Mark raises Jack’s fingers to his lips, kissing the knuckles adoringly. 

“Sometimes, I think you forget how we met,” he laughs, and Jack's chest loosens in mirth. 

~~

The celebrations aren’t that much different, Jack finds. There’s still music, there’s still dancing, and everything is cold as the entire village is alight, but warm in a peculiar way. 

It’s exactly like a Wolf celebration, and maybe that’s why he doesn’t like it even with Mark’s presence so close to him.

He feels naked, somehow, without his cloak. It’s a rarity that he’s without it these days. Even though Mark hadn’t asked, there’s a small part of him that had wanted to look pretty for their time together--perhaps it’s his mate-addled mind, but Mark is good to him. Sometimes he wants to be good back. 

Mark is absent from his side for the time being--off to find another of his oldest friends, Tyler, for Jack to meet. With a quick kiss, he’d promised to be back soon, and that had been over fifteen minutes ago, and he’s nowhere in sight. He feels awkward standing among people he doesn’t know, and finally enters one of the open doors lining the streets. It smells of ale and sweet wine, and touching the amulet over his chest, he sends a mental note out to Mark: _Safe. Meet you later._

A few moments later, something warm reverberates back to him, and Mark acknowledges the message. 

Jack sighs, moving to the corner of the establishment. He gathers that it’s a bar of some sort, or at least a restaurant, and there’s a small amount of chatter bouncing between the walls. It’s so much quieter and warmer than outside, and he closes his eyes.

“Hey, cutie,” a voice hums, and something knocks against his knees--someone else--as they sit in front of him. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Jack opens his eyes, meeting the gaze of another man. He doesn’t recognize him, but his scent tells him that he’s a Bear, definitely, but something’s off about him. Perhaps his senses are frazzled though, given the exposure to so many uncommon stimuli. 

“No,” Jack admits, tugging at the hem of his tunic. “Though, I’m not much for celebrations anyway.” 

“Shame,” the man laughs. “Can I interest you in a drink, at least? It’s on me.”

“That’s alright,” Jack replies coolly, offering a weak smile. The man slides a mug towards him despite his answer, and Jack resists the urge to sigh in annoyance. He doesn’t want to be rude, but he doesn’t really want to stomach a drink. He’s horribly unable to hold alcohol at all, and if he wants to last through the night. “I don’t drink.”

 

“Just one, it’s tradition,” the man persuades, and there’s that uncomfortable glint in his eyes again. 

The man sips from his own, as if to prove a point, and Jack swallows dryly. He figures if he gets out of hand, Mark will just take him home. Grabbing the handle, he takes a large swig from it, the liquid sticky as it slides down his throat.

Sticky. Tingly.

He shakes his head. Something about it isn’t right. Ale isn’t supposed to taste like this.

“Feel a little more like celebrating?” the Bear asks him, and Jack rubs at his eyes. 

“Sure,” he hums out, half lost in thought. He knows this taste. 

The drink is potent, strong. It’s something he’s tasted before. Or something he’s smelled. Used. 

It’s got a dry taste. Almost chalky in his throat--

Jack jumps out of his seat. 

Focused on one thing alone, he shoves past the other patrons through the back door, his feet crunching in the snow as he hurls into it. The vomit hurts coming up, but he’s got to get this out of his system, has to flush himself out otherwise--

“Damn, you’re fast,” the guy declares, yanking him back by the collar. “It usually takes way longer for someone to notice that there’s nightshade in that.”

“I’m a hunter,” Jack spits out, gasping for air. Not enough. He needs water. “You think I wouldn’t notice from the taste?”

He’s trembling, his entire throat on fire as he swings wildly at the man holding onto him. The man snatches up his wrist with ease, pinning him to the side of the building. It isn’t hard, given his disorientation. 

“You’re so pretty,” the man murmurs, his voice hot and sickly against his skin. “You should know better than to walk in unfamiliar places all alone. But I get it. You’re lonely, aren’t you?”

“Fuck off,” Jack’s words tumble out, and he’s not even sure if he’s said them right. The urge to throw up again comes back. “I’ll kill you.” 

He can’t breathe. He hadn’t had enough time to get all of it out, and in liquids, it works too fast. 

The man stomps on his foot, and Jack howls in pain, knocking his head back against the brick. The Bear buries his face in Jack’s neck, taking a slow, deep breath. 

“You’re going to be so fun,” he muses, and Jack feels his teeth graze along his neck. “I can’t wait to hear all the pretty little noises you make while you beg.”

Jack wishes his hands were free--he never travels without a knife in his boot, and it’s moments like these he wishes he carried a strap on his arm. He could’ve had it out in seconds at this point. 

The man jams a leg between his thighs, and Jack gasps, his body involuntarily giving a shudder. His back is beginning to ache, and something hot and thorny bubbles beneath his skin. His heart hammers in his chest and his stomach is twisting itself into knots.

“Don’t touch me,” he gives a futile shove, his vision swimming. Gods. Gods. “I’ll make you sorry. I’ll--I’ll hurt you.”

It’s a half-hearted attempt at best. Jack knows that even if he were fully coherent, he couldn’t take down a Bear by pure strength alone. But he’s not going to just stand by and let this Bear put his hands all over him. 

The Bear sinks his teeth into Jack’s neck and he wails. “Don’t! I’m mated! I’m mated!” 

Tears prick at his eyes as the stinging sensation spreads through his neck. He thinks he’s crying but he can’t be sure, and Jack fears he’s going to pass out soon enough. 

It all happens at once. The man’s presence is ripped away from him, a loud shriek following. The scent of three others come into his radar, just barely, and he collapses to his knees, sobbing. 

“You’re alright, you’re alright,” it’s Wade’s voice, strong and reassuring, his hand on his back. “Shit. Shit, he’s bleeding.” 

Something sticky wanders down his neck, but Jack hardly feels it. He throws up again into the snow, knowing at this point it won’t do any good, but he wants it out anyway. 

Mark’s aura hits him then, solid and commanding as his voice booms, “You fucking swine. How _dare_ you, how dare you wrongfully lay your hands on a person who is clearly unwilling! How fucking dare you lay your filthy, undeserving hands on _my_ \--!”

“Mark!” it’s a voice he doesn’t recognize, a scent he doesn’t. “Finish killing him later! I think--I think he needs you.”

He smells blood, pungent and sour. 

Mark. Mark. Jack croaks out, “Mark. _Mark_.”

He wants to be touched by him so badly. Without warning, something soft wraps around him, and Jack realizes it’s Mark’s cloak. His vision is still blurry, but he makes out Mark’s shape, and he goes to him, burying his face in his shoulder.

“Shh,” Mark soothes, pressing gentle kisses to his hair. “I’ve got you. He won’t hurt you anymore. I promise. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, dear heart. I’m so sorry.” 

Jack breathes him in, trying to find comfort in his scent. He’s vaguely aware of himself still crying, but he’s trying to suck it back in, and he just finds himself content to be in his arms, even if his knees burn from the cold of the snow. 

He keeps his head there, against Mark’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, willing his heart to pound to the same rhythm. Mark’s voice crackles, authoritative and sharp, “ _I will see you killed_.” 

His grip on Jack tightens. Jack’s never heard him so angry. “I will flay every inch of skin from your body until you’re nothing but a bleeding mess of worthlessness. I’ll strangle you with your own organs as I tear them out of your chest, and bury you somewhere so deep in the snow that no one will find you for millenias.” 

“I didn’t know he was mated,” comes the nasly sound of the other man, and Jack assumes his nose has been broken. “He didn’t say--!”

“He wears _my_ claiming necklace,” Mark snarls, his words acid hot and it burns with an unimaginable rage. “He is mine to love and cherish, and he clearly stated his lack of interest. You have brought shame on this clan.”

Jack presses his nose to Mark’s shoulder. Mark puts a hand on the back of his head. 

“My sincerest apologizes, Lieutenant Fischbach,” the man’s voice is small, remorseful, fearful of Mark. He should be. Jack is frightened as well. “I did not mean to insult you.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it,” Mark growls. “Sorry doesn’t take back what you did. Sorry doesn’t--!”

He begins to move again, and Jack latches onto him, the words tumbling out, “Please don’t, Mark. Don’t kill him. Don’t. I don’t want to see it.”

The tears are finally drying up, and he lets out a slow breath, trying to regain his footing. He can’t squash down the fear he’s feeling at Mark’s display of aggression, but he tries to steady himself. 

Mark’s demeanour immediately softens. “Jack, he hurt you. I can’t let this go unpunished. I promised I’d protect you.”

“Then punish him,” Jack murmurs. “You don’t have to kill him. Exile him. Lash him. It’s not worth getting blood on your hands.”

“You are always worth it,” Mark insists, pressing another kiss to his head. Then, addressing the unfamiliar person, “Tyler. I know that it’s Solstice and all, but--”

“Wade and I will take him to Chieftan Muyskens,” Tyler replies, before Mark finishes. “We’ll explain what happened, and you can further the story in due time.” 

Mark gives a short nod, before returning all of his attention back to Jack. He’s shaking. “I’m so sorry,” he murmurs again. “I’m so sorry I left you alone. I shouldn’t have. Not considering how uncomfortable I knew you were. I’m so sorry. I’m--”

“It’s done,” Jack shakes his head, sniffling. “It’s over now. Can we go home?” 

He feels guilty, somehow, demanding they go home after so little time spent here. But he doesn’t want to be here anymore and he’s reluctant to let go of Mark for even a second right now, considering it seems to be the only thing soothing his nerves. 

Mark, however, is already scooping him up, without so much as an affirmation in response. The walk back to the house is a bit of a blur, his senses all over the place as the smell of their shared home fills him. 

“I can walk,” he mumbles, but Mark shows no sign in listening to him. Louder, he announces, “I can walk, Mark.”

Obviously sensing his seriousness, Mark eases him down onto his feet, his fingers sliding along his shoulders, steadying him. 

Jack rubs at his eyes, the room still swirling a bit. “I’m gonna go lay down. You can go back out if you promise to lock the door.”

He doesn’t want him to leave. More than anything, he wants Mark to stay here with him. But that guilt is lingering, forcing Mark to come home from a celebration with his clan.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Mark states, following him towards the bedroom. 

He’s a little wobbly on his feet, but Mark helps him out of his boots and he takes the cloak off of him, and Jack crawls into his designated spot. Wrapping the sheets around him, he sighs, closing his eyes, and slowly Mark’s form joins him, remaining in a sitting position as he smooths his fingers along his back. 

Against his chest, the amulet is warm, and he can feel Mark’s worries coming off him in waves. 

“I’m not blaming you,” Jack’s voice is a lull. “I don’t think this is your fault. It’s mine, really. I should’ve known better than to drink something I didn’t pour myself.”

“He shouldn’t have touched you,” is Mark’s reply, strong and angry again. “I shouldn’t have left you.” 

“It’s okay,” Jack decides, his tone final. “I’m okay. The nightshade was small in dosage. My body’ll flush it out in a little bit, and I’ll be right as rain.”

Mark remains quiet beside him, and Jack thinks he forgets they’re emotions are connected now. He puffs out, “Mark, your thinking is exhausting me.” 

“I’m sorry,” Mark says again. He slides down next to him, and his warmth is comforting. “We rarely...we rarely have such vile creatures among us. I’ll have to go down there soon and explain to the Chieftain the situation. He’ll no doubt want to speak to you, as well.”

“No,” Jack argues. “I want this to be done. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Because he’ll dream about it. He’ll feel it for weeks to come. Every time he closes his eyes, he’ll know it happened. Talking about it just reinforces it.

He pauses. Mark makes no effort to rebuke the statement, so he continues. “I think I’ll head back tomorrow morning. Spend the rest of the Solstice with Fe and Marzia and the rest of my family. I think it’ll be easier on the both of us.”

“I never do well with you away,” Mark mumbles. “I’ll never let it happen again, I promise.”

Jack reaches to touch his cheek gently, his hand shaking a bit. “I..I know. Mark, you know I...you know I always come back.” 

This particular phrase, he knows, might set Mark at ease. It’s not exactly unknown to him the way that Mark hoards him away from everyone else, the way his fingers linger a little too long when Jack declares he’ll be taking a trip home. He has yet to set up a permanent residence with Mark, even though they’re mated now.

“You always come back,” Mark echoes, though he doesn’t sound like he believes himself. “I’ll see you to the border.”

“You have business to attend to,” Jack says firmly. He moves to lower his hand, but Mark reaches up, holding it there. “I’m sure...there’s something you have to clear up here. I don’t want you away from your family during Solstice, either. I’ll wake you before I leave. I’ll let you know when I’m there, okay?”

“I’ll see you to the border,” Mark insists, and when Jack lets out an irritated sigh, he grumbles, “I don’t see why that’s a problem.”

Jack resists the urge to roll his eyes. It’ll probably make him puke. “You don’t think I can defend myself.”

“I watched you, helpless, about to get raped,” Mark’s voice is ice against him, not out of anger, but out of fact. He’s not wrong. Jack shudders to think what would’ve happened had Mark not arrived in time. “Forgive me if I’m a little more than concerned for your ability to protect yourself.”

“I was drugged,” Jack’s argument is weak at best. “I held my own against you pretty well, when we first met.”

Mark huffs, obviously choosing to ignore that little detail. Jack’s not-so-suddenly overwhelmed and tired, finding that he wants this conversation to be over. “Okay. Okay. You can walk me to the border.” 

Seemingly pleased, Mark puts an arm around him, and Jack presses his face to his chest. He’s hoping that he won’t wake in the middle of the night to vomit again, because the last thing he wants to do is remove himself from Mark’s warmth. 

Jack starts drifting off when Mark talks again, though it seems like it’s to himself. “Sometimes I’m scared you won’t come back. That you’ll become that person who didn’t want me again, didn’t want us. I’m sorry I’m selfish. I don’t want to let you leave. Please don’t leave.”

Jack chooses not to speak, because he assumes he’s not meant to hear this anyway. Soon enough, he falls into a dreamless sleep. 

~~

When he wakes, Jack quietly gets dressed and exits the house before the sun even rises, the snow crunching under his boots as he makes his way out of the village and toward the forest.

“I’m sorry,” he says out loud, and he is, truly. But he needs to breathe, and he’s afraid that this event is going to have Mark putting him on a tighter leash. He’s been letting him leave all this time, but one day he might not, and Jack refuses--refuses--to give up that part of himself. 

It’s within Mark’s power to keep him here, and Jack will see to it that this doesn’t happen. He loves Mark, truly, and would do almost anything for him, but this is one thing he’ll not budge on. His freedom is something he will never allow Mark to control.

Mark’s desperation won’t tie him to this foreign land. 

Jack pulls his cloak around him tighter as he keeps walking toward the dusky horizon, and towards home. 

~~

His fingers burn as he digs them into the snow.

Letting out a breathy sigh, Jack carefully unloops the amulet from around his neck. Trembling, he places it in the messy hole he’d just made, before using his fingers to cover it up. His heart thrums uncomfortably in his chest. His fingers are going numb.

Jack looks up, memorizing each angle of the tree, memorizing its position and how many branches--as many as he can count, so he won’t forget. He can’t forget. But right now, he can’t wear it. It’s not a good time.

Rising to his feet, he tucks his fingers underneath his cloak, before heading towards home, ignoring the hollowness in his chest.

~~

Felix throws his arms around him.

“I didn’t think I’d see you,” he squeezes him tight. Felix lets go of him, looking him over. “Jack, are you okay? You look...a little sick.”

Then, his gaze zeros in on his neck. “Holy shit, what happened to you?”

Jack raises his fingers to his neck without thinking. “Nothing,” he mumbles. “I just thought I’d come to see you and Marzia, and my family today. I’ll probably be here for the rest of Solstice.”

Felix seems skeptical of believing him, but brightens at his implication. “Well, I'm glad you're here. I was afraid that we would spend the Solstice without you.” 

His friend’s smile is warm. Jack smiles back, comforted by it, ignoring the odd emptiness in his chest. Felix puts an arm around him, pulling him inside, calling out, “Marzia! Jack’s here!”

Immediately, the alpha appears, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him. She opens her arms and he goes to her, hugging her gently. She gives him a quick peck on the cheek in greeting.

“So glad you made it,” she says, taking his hands. “Solstice isn’t the same without you.”

It’s true. Jack’s has never been without them during Solstice. Every single year, they’ve always watched the lights fade in and out, dancing and singing with one another, laughing themselves silly. It’s a family tradition, practically. 

“What happened to your neck?” Marzia prompts him, quite suddenly. Her brown eyes narrow at the sight of the wound. Her fingers reach out to touch it, and he recoils. “Jack, those are bite marks.”

“It’s nothing,” he insists, rubbing at it. It’s still tender, but he hides the momentary flash of pain. “Seriously, we should bandage this so you guys won’t look at it anymore. It’s really nothing to worry about.”

Felix is already leaving, presumably to do just that, and Marzia lowers her voice. “Mark didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, no,” Jack shakes his head. “No, of course not. This is...this wasn’t him. You don’t have any reason to worry. I’m totally fine.”

“I’m always worried about you,” Marzia replies. “But if you insist it’s nothing, I trust that you’re capable of handling your own health. I’ll drop it.” 

He gives her a small nod, thanking her, and Felix reenters the room with a string of bandages. 

Five minutes later, he’s fashioned with a white choker, and he’s sipping tea while Felix raves on about something that happened last night. 

“Then this guy shoots fire, like, fifty feet in the air,” he’s saying. “Scares the shit out of me and Marzia, and everyone else for that matter. Seriously, I thought the pack was gonna pounce this guy, but soon it devolved into laughter, so it’s all good.” 

“So nothing’s changed,” Jack smiles into his cup. “Same as every year. Good laughs. Bizarre things.”

“What about you?” Marzia asks. “How was it over in Bear territory?”

Jack offers her a shrug. “Not...much different. Same atmosphere. Different scents, that’s all. Awful beer.” 

“You never did like beer,” Felix comments. “So. How’s our tolerable Bear brother doing?” 

He stares down into his teacup, swirling the amber liquid around for a moment, before taking another long swig.

“Mark’s good,” Jack answers. “Right as rain.”

Marzia doesn’t seem surprised when he doesn’t answer any further. Felix just nods. 

~~

Jack has been with Felix and Marzia for three days when he wakes covered in sweat, the cold air like ice against his skin.

He jolts out of bed, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. He can hear it loud in his ears, and his fingers tremble, blood rushing to all parts of him wildly, his muscles taut and tense. Jack kneels on the floor, trying to catch his breath, the anxiety lolling off him in waves, and without thinking, he throws open the door.

“Someone help me,” Jack whispers into the stillness of the house, not expecting an answer. Felix and Marzia live here alone, and they’re both sound asleep. “I need--I need--”

He grasps at his throat, willing himself to calm down, but it doesn’t seem to do any good. Suddenly, the door to the bedroom creaks open, and Felix’s voice drifts out. “Jack? Mm...Marzia, Marzia, wake up. I think…”

But he doesn’t listen. Jack’s body, without his permission, is already guiding him to the door, and he fumbles with the lock before finally wrenching it open. 

“Jack, wait,” he turns, and Marzia is pulling her hair back into a loose bun, Felix’s cloak draped around her shoulders. “Let me go with you.” 

“I’m coming too,” Felix’s body appears behind her, but she whirls on him. 

“No,” she declares, and when Felix looks like he’s going to argue, Marzia affirms, “You’ll stay here and go back to sleep. You need it. I’ll take care of Jack.”

Grumbling, her mate murmurs, “Please send for me if you need me,” before turning back around.

Marzia turns back to him, and it’s just as well, because Jack’s feet burn with the desire to move. He’s barely out the door when Marzia orders, “Boots, Jack. Go put on your boots.”

“No time,” he stammers out, and then he’s running, the bitter night air biting into his skin. He’s not even aware of she’s following him at this point, but his body knows where to go, and he’s not stopping until he gets there. 

Jack runs until he finds that tree, tall and as sturdy as last he saw it. Dropping to his knees, his nails dig into the snow, clawing at it, his heart vehement in his ears.

He vaguely notes her presence behind him, sometime later, when he’s staring at the amulet he’d buried in the snow three days ago. It’s dirtier, now, covered in muck and flecks of ice, but it’s still as beautiful as he remembers it.

Marzia’s hand touches his shoulder, and it tightens when she gazes upon the trinket hidden there. 

“What happened?” she asks, not demanding. Her voice is gentle. Jack’s shaking.

“I ran away,” Jack mumbles, and the words feel unreal to him. “I almost got raped during Solstice. I was scared. I ran away.”

The warmth of Felix’s cloak is wrapping around him in a second, as Marzia helps him to his feet. He stares down at the necklace with wide, glassy eyes, unsure of what to do with it.

“Let’s go back,” she soothes. “Felix is worried sick. I’ll make more tea, and you can tell us everything.” 

As if sensing his hesitation, she kneels down and picks up the amulet, clenching it tightly between her fingers. “I’ll keep this safe, until you want it back.”

He nods, and she leads him back to the house. 

~~

The Solstice ends with much the same stillness as it began. Jack eventually goes back to his family’s house close by, taking comfort in the familiarity of the air. His sisters bestow gifts upon him, for some reason.

“They’re from your mating day,” Emma, the youngest sister explains. “We never got to host a celebration for you, and now that you’re here, we want to give them to you.”

Various articles of clothing, boots, tonics and books, they’re all thoughtful gifts that he appreciates. His brothers challenge him to shooting competitions to ensure he hasn’t lost his edge.

It’s nice being in the company of those who raised him once more. 

He’s carrying firewood back to the cabin with Amelia, his oldest sister, when something sharp and familiar hits him. At once, he stills, and Amelia glances over at him.

“Jack?” she prompts, looking him up and down. “Are you alright?”

His body _shrieks_. It alights with fire, and he locks his knees, hoping to keep himself from sprinting in the direction of the scent. He digs his nails into the wood, grinding his teeth. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s get this wood back. I think Fe and Marzia want me to come over for something.”

Jack sets the pace for their walk home, and the moment he drops off the firewood, he dashes across the village.

 _“WHERE IS HE!”_

The voice booms. He knows that voice. 

As he throws the door open, Felix hisses, “ _Away from you_.” 

“Mark!” Jack bellows, and sure enough, the form of his mate stands in the living room, trembling, rage mixed with fear rolling off of him in waves. “What the hell are you doing!” 

His mate’s eyes are wild, zeroing in on him with a gaze he doesn’t recognize. Jack tenses, ready to fight every part of him that may shrink at fear at such a look. 

At once, Felix is putting himself in between them. His shoulders broad, he raises himself to his full height, teeth bared in determination. “I will kill you before I let you hurt him. So get lost.”

It’s not his safety that Jack’s worried about. He knows that Mark won’t lay so much as a finger on him with the intention to hurt. 

“You either step out of the way,” Mark intones lowly. “Or I snap your fucking neck. _Give him to me_.” 

Jack is about to snap back at him when Marzia’s voice, booming and commanding, bellows, “If you make so much as a move to hurt him, I will cut you open where you stand.”

She appears behind him, obviously having come through the back door. Her aura is ominous, and Jack’s only ever heard her that angry one other time, which also concerned Felix, when they were newly mated. He wonders, briefly, if she really could best him in a fight, and for Mark’s size, it doesn’t seem likely.

Then again, she’s much faster, much more graceful than he. And to protect Felix, Jack doesn’t doubt her strength.

Mark turns to her, clenching his fists, but soon lets his shoulders slump, and she approaches him. Raising her hand, she slaps him hard, resonating in the room.

Jack winces, even though it’s not his hit. Mark doesn’t so much as flinch. 

“Do not test me, Lieutenant,” Marzia warns. “Your panic is reasonable. Your actions are not. You will leave my house, and only when you’ve calmed down may you ask for my permission to speak to Jack.” 

“He’s my mate,” Mark counters weakly. 

“And you threatened the safety of mine,” she snarls. “You’ve forfeited your privilege to call him that. Threatening someone’s mate is a grave offense among this clan, and I’m well within my rights to challenge your claim right now. Until you earn that privilege back, _leave_.” 

Felix pulls Jack to the side as Mark lets out a low sigh, and exits the cabin.

Then Marzia immediately envelops Felix into a hug, and Felix presses his face into her shoulder. 

A hollow ache lingers in Jack’s chest, watching them. 

~~

It’s well after dark when there’s a small, tentative knock on the door. Marzia’s gaze pins him to his seat as she stands, crossing the room, while Felix lowers his voice in talking to him. 

She opens the door, and there, looking much calmer, is Mark.

He licks his lips when Marzia says nothing. Mark clears his throat. “Alpha Bisognin. I sincerely apologize for my behavior earlier today. I was...not myself. But that doesn’t excuse my actions. It was incredibly wrong of me to threaten harm upon your omega, even if it meant getting to my own. I would like to make amends with you, if possible.” 

Marzia seems pleased by his articulate response. She glances over at Jack, then back to him. “Thank you for your apology. I’ll forgive you this time, as you did no actual harm. But I will not forget this, Lieutenant.”

Mark gives a nod, letting the exchange hang in the air for a brief moment, before finally asking, “May I see Jack?” 

“If he wants to,” is Marzia’s short reply. “You are not to remove him from this house unless he wishes to go. You’ll not order him to leave. If he goes, he goes willingly. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, alpha,” and with that, Marzia finally lets her gaze settle on Jack, prompting him with her eyes. 

Jack rises to his feet. “I think we’d best be alone,” he murmurs, and Mark’s eyes meet his. He can’t read them. “If you’re okay with that.”

Marzia motions for Felix to follow her, and very slowly, Felix rises to his feet, claps Jack on the shoulder, and follows her out. 

Mark steps inside, closing the door gently behind him. Jack doesn’t know where to start. His mate doesn’t seem to either. 

“You waited a while,” Jack finally begins. “Before you came after me.” 

“Wade convinced me to wait until after Solstice,” Mark explains. “When I woke up, and you were gone, I--I almost just came running. But he told me that I should wait, because you might come back when you were done visiting family. Told me that maybe I should let you breathe a little bit, in light of…”

He doesn’t need to finish. Jack gnaws on his lower lip. “What happened back there?” 

“I don’t know,” Mark says quietly. He sounds like he means it. “Solstice was awful. I was missing you so much. I didn’t know if you’d gotten there safe. I tried to contact you, briefly, but the ring didn’t seem to be working.”

“I buried the amulet in the snow,” Jack admits. “You...couldn’t feel me?”

“I knew you were alive,” Mark replies. “That’s about it. You seem to have...shut me out. Purposely avoided my contact with you. You buried it?” 

Jack waves him off. “Marzia has it now. For...safekeeping. I feared I would do something awful to it.” 

He carefully leaves out the part which involves him trekking around in the middle of the night to find it.

There’s silence between them for a few seconds, and Mark takes a single step forward, as if asking for permission. Jack doesn’t move, so he takes it as an affirmation to come closer. 

He presses a hand to Jack’s cheek, and he leans into his touch, realizing now how much he’d missed it. Mark loops an arm around his waist lazily, not moving him, but maintaining that contact. Jack chooses to close the gap between them, their bodies touching.

“Why did you run away?” Mark asks, and there it is. The question he’s likely wanted to ask all this time. His voice is hoarse, as though he’s done nothing but shout since his leave. “Do I scare you so much that you had to leave?” 

“No,” Jack breathes. “I’m not scared of you. I’ve never been scared. I just...I was scared of what you might do. Who you might become.” 

“You think me a monster,” Mark presses their lips together so casually that Jack wonders if it’d been an intentional thought, or if their bodies just happen to work that way. “You think I’d cage you up and never let you see the sun again.” 

Jack raises his hands to Mark’s face, cupping his cheeks. He kisses him again, mumbling against his skin, “I don’t think you’re a monster.” 

“You think me a tyrant, then,” Mark confirms. “You think--”

“Don’t tell me what I think,” Jack growls. He presses his face into Mark’s shoulder, as though to avoid this conversation altogether. “When will you stop treating me like I’m helpless?” 

“I just want you to be safe,” his mate murmurs, his fingers finding the loose locks of his hair. “And sometimes, the thought that you won’t let me--”

With surprising anger, Jack shoves him away. “You don’t need to protect me. I can protect myself. Why don’t you get that? Do you think I’m incapable of fighting? Did you forget how we met? I can kill as easily and as efficiently as you can, Mark.” 

Mark begins to grind his teeth--something he does when he’s annoyed with what Jack is saying, and that serves to irritate him more. “Look, I’m not going to apologize for wanting to protect you. It’s every instinct in me to make sure that you’re cared for, but more than that, I love you, Jack. It would destroy me if something happened to you.” 

“I don’t want you to apologize,” Jack rubs at his neck, forgetting the bandage that’s still there, loosening now. “I just...I don’t know what I want.”

“I can’t help how I feel,” Mark says sharply. “I can’t help these feelings inside of me that make me want to protect you. When you were gone I--I couldn’t feel you and I couldn’t talk to you, and it was driving me mad. I’m hardwired to--to take care of you. You’re my mate, Jack, my true mate. You could’ve been tortured and I wouldn’t have known. Then Felix wouldn’t tell me where you were, and he tried to keep you from me, and my mind was just screaming that he was a threat, and that he would hurt you. It took everything I had to not kill him right there--I didn’t want to.”

Mark reaches for him again, and something ugly twists in Jack’s gut. He doesn't move. “Please, Jack. Don't shut me out. Don't run away. Talk to me. That's what you want, isn't it? For me to treat you as an equal? I'm trying to. Talk to me.” 

Jack feels himself shrinking in, that monster inside of him growing tighter. Mark looks like he’s in physical pain. 

“Maybe I don’t want this,” Jack whispers, more to himself. But Mark definitely hears it. “Gods. I don’t know, Mark. Maybe this was a mistake.”

“Don’t say that,” his mate’s voice is small. Uncertain. “Tell me what’s wrong.” 

“I didn’t ask for this much drama in my life,” Jack breathes out. He shakes his head. “I think...maybe you should go. For now. So I can figure this all out.” 

Mark is immediately upon him, touching him with his cold fingers. All along his shoulders, his neck, tracing the falling bandage. He brushes the tips of his nails along his cheek, before pulling him into a hug.

“I don’t want to leave you,” he mumbles, breath ghosting over his ear. “Come back with me, please? We’ll work through this, together.” 

“I can’t think with you here,” Jack half laughs, but his voice doesn’t sound quite right. “You make everything cloudy. Like I don’t know myself.” 

With great difficulty, he pushes Mark away, but it’s a soft shove at worst. “I always come back. I always come back to you, don’t I?”

“I love you,” Mark tells him, bold and heavy in the air between them. “And I’m so sorry that the way I show it to you isn’t the way you’d like. I’m trying. But it’s never because I think you’re weak, or because I think you’re helpless. It’s what I do for people I love. I protect them. I protect you. You’re the most important person in my life. There was a life I had before you, and I don’t want it back. I never want to go back to my life without you.”

Perhaps Mark’s intention is to make him change his mind. In truth, it almost works. Jack’s knees feel like they’ll collapse at any minute. 

The words bubble in his throat, but as he opens his mouth to say them, they seem caught there. Like something foul and iron-gripped is holding it in. He can’t force it out.

“I’ll put the amulet back on,” Jack replies softly. “So you’ll know I’m safe. Will that make this better?”

“It won’t be better until you’re with me again,” Mark says miserably. He runs his fingers through his hair. “I guess, I just...I don’t understand.”

Jack tilts his head. Mark elaborates, “That you can just...do that. Just say, you don’t want this. I can’t. I can’t just say, let’s take some time apart. You’re probably going to have to shove me out the door, because the thought of leaving you here puts me in physical pain.” 

Laughing, Jack shakes his head. “Trust me, I feel it.”

And he does. It’s there, rumbling in the pit of his stomach, burning all the way up his throat with every word, with every implication that he will be leaving Mark in the coming future. 

It frightens him. But he speaks truth--he can’t think with Mark here, can’t think clearly, because he’ll always choose Mark if he’s here. He’s got to make sure it’s what he really wants. 

“I don’t want you to leave,” Jack admits, closing his eyes. He fears those words more than anything, but they want out, and he’s tired of this talk already. 

“Then don’t make me go,” Mark has never sounded more pitiful in all their time together. “Please don’t make me leave, Jack.” 

That ugly feeling sears his insides, scraping at his throat. Perhaps it’s the thought of leaving his mate in such a sorry state, or perhaps it’s the stress of being separated entirely, and the universe doesn’t like it. Easily, it’s one of the hardest things he does when he whispers, “I’ll figure this out. I will.” 

Mark bows his head. 

~~

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Felix asks, for the third time this day, as though his answer has changed from the previous two times, and more importantly, the last week and a half. 

Being without Mark has created an eerie absence in his chest, dark and icy that plagues him--when he sleeps, when he’s awake. It’s providing very little time for him to think about anything. 

“Promise me,” Mark had said, after a final goodbye kiss, clutching his hands against his chest. “Promise me, that if you need me, you’ll send for me. I mean it, Jack. Please. Take what time you will, but--but if you need me...if you want me…” 

“I’ll call for you,” Jack had replied, his throat tight, and he had barely kept himself from losing all his composure. “I promise.”

Then Mark had left, and nothing has been more painful. 

“I’ll give you three guesses,” Jack grouses in reply to his friend, who takes the liberty of sitting next to him at the Temple of Lupus. 

It’s his favorite spot to go when he’s anxious, nervous, or is just in need of a breather. Something about the presence of his spirit guide calms his soul, soothing away his anxiety that crops up whenever he so much as blinks these days. Sometimes he prays, and sometimes he doesn’t--sometimes he just talks and awaits an answer. 

Lupus doesn’t usually answer him, but sometimes She does, in strange forms. Like dreams and constellations, and even accidents. 

“Maybe you should,” is Felix’s cool reply. When Jack does a glance over his shoulder, Felix goes on. “Marzia isn’t here. I told her that I wanted to talk to you alone. A little omega bonding, you get my drift?” 

“You’ve no idea how this feels,” Jack’s answer is sharper, colder than he anticipates. “It’s like I’ve lost a piece of myself. Like I tore off my arm and threw it into the frozen lake.” 

Felix’s voice softens. “Then why did you do it?” 

“I can’t think with him here,” Jack lets his shoulders slump. He closes his eyes. He fidgets with the amulet he’d gotten back from Marzia--but as of recently, it’s been little more than a weight around his neck. “You didn’t see him that night. I thought he’d kill that Bear right in front of me. It scared me, Felix. What kind of person am I tying myself to for all eternity?” 

“But?” Felix prompts.

Jack opens his eyes, meeting his gaze. It’s hard to hold it. “But I also can’t think without him here. And more than anything, I want him here next to me. I want to wrap myself so far into him that I’ll never be without him again.” 

Felix nods, as though he were expecting such an answer. “Why did it scare you? He was protecting you. Someone had hurt you, and he was jumping to your defense, in a way that his clan deals with it. You knew he meant you no harm. Why did it scare you?” 

“It’s like what he did to you,” Jack sighs. “He threatened to kill you if you didn’t get out of his way. What if, next time, Marzia can’t stop him? What if she isn’t here in time? His protection of me goes too far. You didn’t mean me any harm. He knew that. He knew that. You were trying to protect me, from--from him. He couldn’t even see that. He just destroys. Without thinking.” 

“But he didn’t,” his friend points out. “But he didn’t hurt me. But Marzia made it here. Jack, you’re thinking of unlikely scenarios. He’s learning--he’s new to all of this, as you are. I thought we were past this, Jack. I thought this battle with yourself was long over. You’re mated. You’ve got this future ahead of you, now. And it’s okay if you don’t know what’s going to happen, because the two of you are meant to figure it out together. Isn’t it done?” 

This is becoming too much. Jack closes his eyes again, and Felix hisses out, “Stop backing away! Stop throwing in the torch when it’s too much! This isn’t something where you can just duck your head and it’ll stop being a problem!” 

“What if someday he gets to be too much?” Jack seethes. “What if, someday, he decides he doesn’t want me to run off anymore? If he doesn’t want me to come home anymore? What if someday he decides that I’m only to be his little pet, and not even a person anymore? What if someday he decides that he doesn’t want me anymore? That I’m too much trouble? That I...”

His voice falters. “...I’m not worth it.” 

There’s silence between them. Wind rustles through the temple, chilling them both. But neither move. 

Felix puts his hand over Jack’s. “You can’t be afraid of that, you know. You just can’t.”

“But I am,” Jack lets out a breathless laugh. “It’s the only thing I’m afraid of. I’m not afraid of him. I’m afraid of...of what could happen. This future. With him in it. I keep saying I’m afraid of what _he_ might do. Of who _he_ could become. But I’m honestly just...scared of the future. Because I don’t know what it’s going to be like. It’s the one uncertain thing in my life, and I don’t know how to cope with that.” 

His friend regards him with an indiscernible look.

Then, “Sometimes, when you talk like that...I’m reminded of how you were when we were young. Remember? The day your sigil appeared, you cried so loud I feared that this very temple would crumble under your screams, and you were so scared. But after that day…”

“I never cried again,” Jack finishes. “I just wore gloves all the time. Never thought about it. I took…”

“One day at a time,” Felix gives him a strange smile. “Can I be honest with you?” 

Jack rolls his eyes. “Like you haven’t already been doing.”

“I think you’re psyching yourself out too much,” he murmurs. “I think you’re painting this grand and frightening picture in your mind, when you forget Mark’s just mortal. He breathes and eats and sleeps and tires the same as you. He’s not this enigma, this apparition you make him out to be. He’s mortal. You’re mortal. There’s no trick to it. Yeah, he’s a different clan, but that doesn’t make him too much different. He’s still just Mark.”

“But--”

“He’ll make mistakes,” Felix reminds him. “He’ll fuck up, and he’ll probably hurt you. Not intentionally, not out of malice, but it comes with the package. But he’ll love you. He’ll see you through every ounce of pain he’s able to, and beyond. And through all of your fits, flaws, and weird things, he’ll still love you.” 

Something rumbles in his stomach, sharp and cold. It feels like ice, freezing him from the inside out. He sees a vision in his mind--a door frozen shut, locks that he doesn’t know where the keys are. 

“I love him,” Jack whispers, staring up at the monument of Lupus. He can’t bear to look at Felix just yet, not with the startling revelation of this news to himself. In some ways, he’s always known this feeling, sleeping within him, dormant. It feels weird saying it aloud. “I think I always have.”

“Yeah, I know,” Felix laughs, like he really does know what he’s talking about. “So what’re you gonna do with that knowledge?”

“Something stupid, probably,” Jack admits. “Can I ask you something?”

“‘Course,” Felix replies.

Licking his lips, he tries to think of how to phrase this. How to ask this question. There’s so much he still doesn’t know about this bond between them. What it does. What it actually is. 

“Sometimes, I feel him,” he begins, tentative and awkward. “Like a heartbeat with my own. But it comes...in and out. Sometimes my hand burns for no reason--and I feel like, at any given moment, I’ll just take off running again. Is that normal?” 

Felix takes a moment to think. Then, “Marzia and I have been bonded for a while. I never ran from her. I never was unsure of her feelings for me, or of mine for her. It was always ever present, but my bond had been revered up until that point. Yours was scorned from the start. Sometimes, I had wished I could hide yours, so no one would ever spit at you again.”

It’s true. Jack’s sigil has always been a rustic brown, while all the other Wolves have a sigil bearing the blue color. 

“But to answer your question,” Felix goes on. “Yes. Right now, I can feel Marzia’s heartbeat, right here, next to mine. I can tell she’s stressed, because she’s worried. Probably about you. I’m surprised you’ve managed this long, really, being so far away from Mark for this long. I travel with Marzia whenever she’s going to leave for a long time, because tearing myself away from her when I can’t help her--it pains me. It makes me want to run.” 

His friend taps his own sigil absently. “The mark only burns when your mate is in incredible pain--emotional or physical. It means that the link between you two is distorted, somehow, or one member has cut the other off. But the bond can’t truly be severed until death, so it goes through what connected you from the start.” 

Jack really doesn’t know what to say. He swallows, and then lets out a soft sigh. “Okay. Can I be alone for a little bit?”

Seemingly satisfied with Jack’s demeanor now, obviously accomplishing what he set out to do, Felix rises to his feet, and exits the temple. 

Kneeling before the statue, he whispers, “If you’re listening, give me an answer. Show me. Don’t let me fuck this up.” 

Then he rises, and leaves. 

~~

_Everything around him is burning._

_It’s hot against his skin, and Jack fears this isn’t a dream, but in some ways, he knows it is. Because he’s not here, in this place, but he knows this place. He knows this place too well._

_The flames roar, illuminating the darkened night, and the wind blows, breeze harsh, sharp in scent. Smoke fills his lungs, but strangely, he doesn’t feel the need to cough._

_He is here, but he isn’t here. This is a dream, but it’s happening right now._

_Jack surveys the landscape--the burning village. The screams of others mingle with the howling wind, the crackling fire. It feels like the world is ending, that this portion of the world will break off and the rest will follow it._

_Pandemonium breaks out among each and every person, until Jack sees it. The flash of color, a cloak, a call. This fire isn’t accidental. It’s intentional._

Where is he? _Jack wonders, the thought passing through him without warning._ Where is Mark?

_“Either the chief’s son comes out, or this whole place gets slaughtered!” a voice rings out, piercing and sharp. Jack shivers at his tone. “You’ve got two minutes!”_

_Those coarse voices are known throughout the region. They call themselves the Stills, or the Silent, because they abide by no Gods, pray to no deity for protection. They do not believe in such actions._

_But they do believe in tormenting those who do. They are power hungry, tearing apart villages, forcing conversions or slaughtering those that won’t. They force Bears, Wolves, Lynx, Ravens--everyone, they force them to rescind their Gods or be killed._

_Jack shivers at the thought. They must have attacked without warning. They must have breached security at its lowest point._

_He shudders to think what he’ll witness in the following moments, because these Bears won’t allow their chief’s son to come out. It won’t do any good. Jack knows how this will work--they will break Bob until he submits, and then everyone else will follow. Like a domino effect._

_As he watches the events unfold, Jack nearly screams when the familiar tuff of black hair appears, tired and bloody, his fingers trembling._

_“Leave my people alone,” Mark’s voice is sharp, growling, and even in this dream haze, Jack knows how serious he is. “This land is not yours to take.”_

_“I suppose the illustrious Bear gave this land to you?” someone taunts, and he sees the way that Mark’s entire form tenses. “Get over yourself. Anyway, are you the one we’re looking for?”_

_Mark’s mouth twists into a scowl. “Yes,” he says, no hesitation in his words. “I’m the chief’s son. Lieutenant Muyskens. Take a good look at my face, while you’re at it.”_

What are you doing, _Jack thinks, because his brain is getting fuzzy. Mark’s going to get himself killed, pretending to be Bob. Why is he pretending to be Bob? But then he knows, of course he knows._

_Mark would never let anyone get hurt if he could help it._

_“Alright, Lieutenant,” the man drones on. “Here’s the deal. If you don’t want the rest of your people slaughtered here in the snow, you’ll come with us.”_

_“What do you want with me?” Mark challenges, daring to take a step forward. The blood makes him appear menacing, ominous. “What guarantee do I have that you’ll leave them alone, defenseless in the fires you’ve caused?”_

_“Word on the path is that you’re worth a pretty high sum to certain people,” the bastard says. “We’re pretty interested in that. So, do we have a deal?”_

_Jack swears Mark looks over at him, even if Jack’s not really there, not physically. Maybe he knows he’s watching, though._

_“Leave them out of everything,” Mark finally grits out, his voice hard. “And I’ll go with you.”_

_The Still smiles. “Get on your knees. I want everyone watching to see you submit.”_

_“Don’t do it,” Jack finds himself murmuring, and his voice doesn’t sound right. It’s strangled and uncertain. “Mark, don’t--”_

_He gazes upon his mate as he collapses onto his knees, shaking with humiliation at the order, and Jack feels himself begin to cry. There’s something sharp inside him, something painful, as he screams, “Get up! Don’t let them do this to you! Mark!”_

**He cannot hear you, pup** , _a soft voice murmurs, somewhere above him._ **You know this. You know what this is.**

_Lupus._

_“Why are you showing me this?” Jack whimpers, wincing as Mark is struck hard across the face. The leader presses his face into the snow, tying his hands behind him. “I--I’m…”_

**You’re in pain** , _Lupus affirms._ **I know, pup. Some visions we must see are painful. But there are necessary evils in all worlds. Not just this one.**

_“Can I help him?” Jack squeezes his eyes shut, trying to keep himself from focusing on the scene before him any longer. “Can I save him?”_

**Even the stars have not predetermined this** , _She replies_. **Little one, your decisions are your own. This is a future you must decide.**

_“I want to save him,” Jack laughs. It’s not funny. “I want to save him, I want--I don’t want him to be hurt. I want to protect him. I want all more than anything for him to be safe, with me.”_

_The words come out with surprising ease, and this feeling isn’t unlike his earlier revelations. He wonders why these words, why this future, ever seemed so frightening to him._

**Then you know what you must do,** _Lupus sounds like she’s smiling, with a twinge of something grim._ **Make haste, pup. You haven’t much time.**

Everything clears, and Jack wakes up in the dead of night with the words thank you still on his lips. 

~~

“So let me get this straight,” Marzia really looks like she needs some tea. “You’re telling me that, Mark’s village has been attacked by the Still, and that he’s been kidnapped?”

“Yes,” Jack breathes out. He rubs at his eyes. “I know, it sounds crazy--”

Marzia holds up a hand. “No, it sounds about right. I just...don’t know what I should do about it. I could head out there with you, but I have no guarantee that you and I both will be able to handle them--” 

“What if we took the third division?” Felix inputs, tapping his foot thoughtfully. “They’re loyal to you. They would march into that battle if you asked them to.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t risk the lives of those who follow me. Not without a cause they all believe in.”

Her gaze falls upon him. “It’s not that I don’t want to help. I do. I would do almost anything for you, Jack. Even put myself at risk. But I can’t--not in good conscience. I can’t take the third division for a rescue mission they’re not all willing to die and be separated from their mates for.” 

Jack nods mutely. There’s an icy feeling crawling up his chest, but he understands, truly. “So I’m just...supposed to leave him there, on his own? Let him be tortured or put into slavery or killed? I’m just supposed to let that happen?” 

It’s a low blow. Marzia has this pained look on her face. Jack almost apologizes. Almost. “Let me bring it up with the council. As you’ve told me, there’s been tentative peace talks. An armistice of sorts. Maybe...this can seal the deal.” 

“You can try,” Marzia finally relents. “I’ll vouch for your case. Perhaps it’ll be enough.” 

“We’ve got to do it now,” Jack tells her. “I--I’ve got this bad feeling. I can’t shake it. I’m sorry, Marzia, I know I’m putting you in such a bad position--”

“I’ll assemble the council,” Felix breaks in. “Tell them an emergency meeting by Alpha Bisognin has been requested. Is that okay, Marzia?”

Marzia gives him a tired smile. “It’ll have to be.” 

~~

“Surely, you realize how ludicrous this sounds,” Alpha Yorick crosses his arms. “You’re asking me to send our fighters with you on a rescue mission that’s not ours to undertake? Why can’t the Bears go after him?” 

“They won’t dare,” Felix interjects, ignoring the look Yorick gives him. “Their village has been burned, and they’re likely tending to their wounded. They can’t spread themselves too thin, unless they risk getting hurt even further. Mark isn’t the real chief’s son anyway--he’s a lieutenant of one of their divisions, and though it may take time--he can be replaced.” 

The other alpha sighs. “We don’t even know how much of that is true. Because Jack McLoughlin had one fever dream--”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” Jack snarls. “If it was your mate, you’d be doing the same thing!”

“The last I heard, you were vehement that he wouldn’t be for much longer,” Yorick sneers back. Then, softening, “I understand your mind must be in a frenzy. But to risk going against the Still--”

“We have a common enemy,” Marzia declares. “All of us do. Bears, Wolves, Ravens, Lynx--it doesn’t matter. We have a duty to protect ourselves from their destructive nature. And we owe it to Jack, a member of our clan, born and raised with us, to help him get back someone who means the world to him.” 

“But Bisognin,” Alpha Kier counters. “This Bear serves no benefit to our clan, other than Jack’s happiness. And while that is a nice thought to entertain--”

“If,” Marzia cuts her off. “We bring Lieutenant Fischbach back to the Bears in one piece, they’ll owe us. We’ll have one favor to call in, should we need it. But more than that--we’ll have an opportunity to settle this dispute between us once and for all.”

Felix murmurs, “Like the old saying: _The enemy of my enemy is my friend_.” 

There’s deathly silence in the room for the next few moments. Jack feels like his heart is going to leap out of his chest. 

“We go in, we get the bastard, and we leave,” Yorick sighs. “We don’t draw blood unless provoked.” 

“Not happening,” Kier argues. “If we wait until provoked, we’ll lose more.” 

“I’ll fire the first shot,” Jack squares his shoulders. “Once they’re distracted, I need all of ten minutes to find Mark. Can you buy me that long?” 

“Hopefully,” Yorick says. It’s the first time he ever meets Jack’s eyes. “You have ten minutes once you get in there. Afterward, we’re leaving you behind. You got me?” 

Marzia looks like she might argue with that notion, but Jack nods. 

~~

When Jack fires the first shot from his bow, the Stills fall into chaos. 

The arrow goes right through one of the sentries’ necks, and that’s when everyone starts screaming. That first splatter of blood startles everyone, but the Wolves take no time in moving in.

Ten minutes. Jack has ten minutes to find Mark in all the pandemonium. 

It’ll be enough. It has to be enough.

He opens up a pathway between them, praying that Mark hasn’t cut him off after all this time. Jack yanks at that tether with everything he has, demanding retaliation, and finally, finally, something weak reverberates back. 

Eight minutes. 

Jack sprints across the snow, ducking into one of the tents, and his knees almost give out when sitting there, bound and blindfolded and bloody, is Mark. 

“Come to finish the job?” Mark’s voice is rough against him, foreign and familiar all at once. “Sounds like shit’s going down out there.” 

Unable to talk for fear of choking, Jack approaches him, kneeling down to his level. As though sensing his sudden proximity, Mark bares his teeth at him. “If you’re going to kill me, look me in the eye, you coward.” 

“It’s me,” Jack finds his voice distant and hesitant, not quite there. “Mark, it’s me. It’s me.” 

A rush of emotions floods into him--but they aren’t his. It’s like a sea, an angry tsunami punching him in the ribs, leaving him breathless. Mark must have been cut off, just as he had been, for such a long time. His mate has gone remarkably still, so with shaking fingers, he unties the blindfold from around his eyes, letting it fall between them, and warm brown eyes squint for a moment, before softening at the sight of him. 

“Gods above,” Mark whispers. “Jack, no. Jack, what the hell are you doing here? It’s not--”

“I’m rescuing you,” Jack tugs the knife out of his boot, trembling as he cuts the rope from binding Mark’s hands. He drops it shortly after. “I couldn’t...I couldn’t leave you here.”

“How?” Mark doesn’t really sound like he cares about the answer all that much. “Why?” 

That one hits him harder. But without receiving an answer, he’s already taking Jack’s hands, lacing their fingers together, and something hot and satisfying flows into his veins. Jack leans forward, their foreheads touching, bringing his hand to touch his cheek. He can feel the rumbling in his chest, tears welling in his eyes, overwhelming him. 

“I love you,” Jack murmurs, and as Mark’s grip on him tightens, he realizes this is the first time he’s ever said it to him. Perhaps he’s always felt it, perhaps he’s always known, but speaking it aloud just ignites something in the air. “I love you so much. I don’t want to be without you anymore.”

Mark opens his mouth, but Jack’s pulling him up before he can finish. There’s a time and a place for all this, but it isn’t now. Right now, he’s got to get Mark out of here, and away from all of this. 

Grabbing his knife once again, he asks, “Can you walk?”

“Mostly,” is Mark’s reply, short and awkward now, but Jack supposes there’s time to talk later.

Jack moves to help support his weight, when a rough voice addresses them at the door. “So this tryst was a rescue mission. I see.” 

His eyes slide to the man in the doorway, torn and ripped, the front of his clothes speckled with blood. Blood from his brothers and sisters, Jack thinks grimly. But what Jack recognizes more, is that this is the man he saw in his dream. Who forced Mark onto his knees. 

Something primal within him churns. 

_Protect. Protect. Protect._

“Get out of my way,” Jack hisses, putting out an arm, obstructing the pathway to Mark. “Or I _will_ kill you.” 

“I thought you animals were at war with each other?” the Still prompts him. “It doesn’t matter, I guess. The mutts already left you behind. Once they saw that they were way in over their heads, they bailed out. So how about this: you throw down that toothpick and walk out of here with your life, or _I_ kill _you_.” 

“That’s a lie,” Jack growls. “I can still hear them. I can still hear them cutting down your men like rotten wood.” 

He hears something being cut down, but he can’t tell who. It unnerves him. 

“You’ll find that your hearing has gone south,” the Still argues back. “Listen, brat. I don’t want to deal with you right now. Your little escapade has already cost me some good men--I’m not taking kindly to that. You and I both know you’re about as harmless as a fly.” 

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you took him,” Jack growls. Mark is strangely silent behind him. “I’d like to see you try and kill me. You take one more step towards me and you’ll see how harmless I am.” 

A cry erupts outside, but Jack can’t tell whose voice it is. He can’t tell if it’s friend or foe. 

“I don’t know what your true purpose is in getting him back, but what I do know is that it’s not worth more than a few gold pieces, is it? I’m a trader--surely I can cut you a deal?”

“You’re joking,” Jack guffaws, and he glances back briefly to see Mark taking one step toward him, hand pressed into his side. “I really should kill you.” 

“All I’m saying is that whatever he’s selling for, I can probably match it and more,” the Still has grossly misinterpreted the purpose of this mission. How foolish. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by pretending you don’t know who he is. Lieutenant Muyskens of the Bears is fetching a pretty high price, or so I hear. So come on, work with me, will ya?”

With a sickly smile, the Still puts out a hand, and Jack’s blood roars in his ears. He lowers the knife for but a moment, stepping forward to take his hand, and when the bastard grins like he’s won, Jack rams the blade up into his stomach. 

“ _My mate cannot be bought_ ,” he snarls, twisting it harshly. The Still cries out, sinking to his knees, startled by his hostility. “He is Lieutenant Fischbach, and he’s _mine_.” 

He yanks it out. Then, with little thought, Jack rams it back down into him, the flesh giving way, and he rips it out again. Again, he thrusts it back in, and and again he rips it out. Over and over. He tastes blood in his mouth.

“Jack,” Mark’s voice reaches him, and he had forgotten his presence for a moment, forgotten his entire reason for being here, for why he was doing this. His mate’s hand finds his wrist, wrenching him back from stabbing him yet again. “That’s enough, Jack. It’s done. Stop.” 

Dropping the blade, the command flows through him, and he lets Mark pull him to his feet, shaking his head. With a shaky breath, he mumbles, “Okay.” 

A part of him fears going beyond these tent walls, but Jack would kill a hundred more of these people if it meant getting Mark home. 

“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Jack says.

Mark doesn’t answer, and maybe it’s better that way. 

When they exit the tent, it’s eerily quiet, but he sees Alpha Kier tying up the last of the Stills to a post, all of them smacked unconscious, no doubt. Jack scans the crowd of Wolves behind her, counting them. 

They’re all there. They haven’t lost anyone. He lets out a small sigh of relief. 

“McLoughlin,” Yorick calls to him. “We should get out of here before reinforcements arrive. Wouldn’t surprise me if these woods are crawling with stragglers who fled the moment you let your first shot loose.” 

Jack adjusts Mark against him, holding tighter as the alpha slides his gaze to Mark. “We’ll see to him once we’re in the clear. Can he manage until then?” 

“I’ll be just fine,” Mark replies coolly, even if his outer appearance says otherwise. 

Felix appears by Jack’s side, not offering a word, but a silent reassurance. Marzia strides over to him as well, her presence speaking for her. 

“Then we’ll be on our way,” Yorick declares, and leads the pack homeward. 

~~

They don’t speak again until they’re alone in Jack’s room. 

As the door shuts, Mark envelopes him in a tight hug, strong and solid as opposed to everything else that’s been happening lately. He can hardly breathe the embrace is so tight, but Jack couldn’t give less of a damn about that. Mark could very well squeeze all of the air out of him, and he wouldn’t bat an eye. 

Without words, he loosens his hold, remaining in his bubble as he brings his hands to his face. A moment later, Mark kisses him, heavy and needy, as though he’s starving, and in a way, he is. They haven’t been this close in weeks. 

Jack slides his arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and Mark pushes him against the door. He boxes him there, kissing him again and again and again, as though he’s afraid Jack will disappear if he stops. 

“I’m here,” he finds himself saying, in the little bits of air he can manage. Mark’s stealing nearly everything he has within him, and he doesn’t care. “I’m here, Mark, and I love you.” 

“You love me?” comes Mark’s reply, such a soft question, so uncertain. This is where he pauses, his brown eyes dark, searching, hoping, pleading. “You love me, truly?” 

“Yes,” Jack breathes, finding no traces of hesitation in himself. The words are as effortless as he’d hoped they’d always be. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I never told you before. I’m sorry I made you think that I didn’t.” 

His mate buries his face into his shoulder, breathing him in. Locking his arms around his waist, Mark mumbles, “When I was taken, I--I was afraid I’d never see you again. That I was going to die and I’d never get to--I wouldn’t get to…” 

He presses a hot, open-mouthed kiss to his neck, punctuating his every word. Jack licks his lips. “I saw...I saw what they did to you. What they did to your village. All I could think about was getting to you, but I...I was prepared to go in myself, probably get myself killed in the process--”

“How did you know?” Mark asks, raising his head. He brushes the stray strands of hair away from Jack’s face. “I made sure I muffled you. I didn’t want you to feel anything they put me through.”

Jack closes his eyes. Explaining his dream would be ludicrous--he’s not entirely sure if explaining it would make sense. Perhaps he never had it at all, and it was some sort of fever, but whatever the case, it led him in the right direction. He shakes his head. “I just knew, and I...I had a choice.”

Mark says nothing, and the implication is there. He knows what Jack is saying. 

“For a long time, I’ve...been afraid of this future,” Jack admits. “I kept telling myself I was afraid of you. But really I...I feared my future. In general. I always have. I’m sorry. But I’m not scared--I’m not scared anymore.” 

His mate presses their foreheads together. “I love you, Jack. Being without you, it was--it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But having you here, right now, that’s what matters to me. Whatever you’re afraid of, whatever it takes, I will wait for you, and I will still love you.” 

“I don’t deserve you,” Jack whispers. “Not after what I’ve put you through. The sort of pain I did. I sent you away, and then you got hurt, and what if I hadn’t made it in time, what if the Wolves hadn’t agreed--” 

Mark kisses his forehead. “No, Jack. We deserve each other. I’ve put you through your own fair share of troubles. You had a right to send me away. I was...not myself after what happened to you at Solstice. You may be fearful of the future, but I’m fearful of losing you. Of you being hurt. We’ll work through this. I know we can.”

“When he threatened you,” Jack closes his eyes again, the words tumbling out. The memory plays over and over in his mind. “Offered you up like some prize, I wanted to protect you. More than anything. It repeated like a mantra, over and over and over. It was the only thing I could think of.”

Opening his eyes, Mark offers him a wry smile. “And now, he gets it.” 

Jack lets out a breathless laugh. Mark pulls him closer. “I’m not going to stop protecting you. But it’s not because I think you’re weak. It’s because I have to. I want to. Because I love you, and seeing you safe and happy is my number one priority.”

“If I can protect you, too, I’ll let you protect me,” Jack relents, wishing that he would kiss him again. “Does that sound fair?”

Mark’s smile is a comfort, the first in a while. “That definitely sounds like something I can live with.”

Jack feels a weight at his shoulders, then, not from heaviness, but from fatigue. Letting out a short breath, he tilts his head back against the wall. “I’ve missed sleeping with you next to me.”

“I’ve missed sleeping,” Mark admits. “I don’t think I’ve slept properly since you left.” 

Sighing, Jack leans forward and captures his lips again, letting the warmth spread throughout him at the contact. His skin tingles, and very suddenly, a sadness washes over him. He sucks in a steadying breath, and Mark squeezes him once more. 

Then, his mate releases his hold, only to grab him by the wrists, tugging him gently towards the bed. Unclasping his cloak, it falls to the floor, and soon, the rest of their garments follow. 

~~

Mark is a mess of bruises and cuts, but he’ll live. Once they’d arrived back, he’d had a full-scale checkup to make sure nothing was irreparably damaged. Jack only touches him as gently as he thinks is appropriate given his condition, but Mark isn’t having it. 

“I’ve been without you for weeks,” he’d rumbled. “I’ll heal. Just...let me hold you, okay?” 

So Jack does. They spend a lot of the night pulling at each other, chaste kisses against their lips quickly devolving into open-mouthed ones against their necks, biting and claiming each other again and again. The outside world feels like it’s a distant memory, like they’re living in their own bubble and it’s wonderful. 

At some point, words feel forgotten, communication transforming into easy breathing and rumbling heartbeats. Jack notices Mark’s hair has gotten longer since their last interaction, or maybe it’s always been that way. It’s easier to lace his fingers into, so when Mark’s head drifts too far away, he can pull him back up and reconnect their lips. 

The scent of Mark again is comforting, sharp and distinctly of cinnamon. Like sunshine. Like home. He presses his nose into Mark’s shoulder, breathing him in, and Mark’s combing his fingers through Jack’s like there’s nothing he’d rather be doing. 

They fall asleep tangled together, the world nothing but a whisper. 

~~

“Rise and shine, beauties!”

“Fe, if you take one more step into this room, I’ll kill you. No hesitation.”

His friend’s hearty laugh flows into the room, and Jack snuggles down closer into the cocoon of warmth he’s got going for himself. 

“Marzia wants to have breakfast,” Felix declares. “Your family is coming over. They want to formally meet your mate, since you’ve been so secretive about him. So up you get, get dressed you two. Jeez. Acting like newlyweds over here--you’ve been mated for months!”

The door closes, and Jack sighs. 

“We could just leave,” he says. “Go through the window. If my family’s coming out here, we won’t be leaving for weeks. You might die. I might die. Just of embarrassment.”

“I think you’re overreacting a bit,” Mark replies, the first words he’s spoken this morning, his voice a deep thrum. “It can’t be that bad. They’re your family.”

“In our clan, meeting the parents is like, the last big step,” Jack explains. He pauses to listen to the steady thrum of Mark’s heartbeat, insync with his own. “It’s a huge commitment.”

Jack reluctantly rolls away from the safety of Mark’s arms, opening his eyes to the light. He stares at the ceiling of the cabin, thinking of how many times he’s stayed here over his life. 

“I think that the largest part of our commitment is taken care of,” Mark reminds him, pulling himself into a sitting position. “Unless you’re having second thoughts.” 

The _again_ is unspoken. Jack shakes his head, his cheeks warming at the thought. Him and Mark have been down this road for what feels like a hundred times already. 

“Of course not,” he says, and to prove this, he forces himself up, rolling until he settles easily onto his lap. Mark’s hands immediately go to his waist. 

Jack raises his hands, cradling his mate’s face. He kisses him once, soft and steady. “I love you. I’m not letting you go again.” 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say that,” Mark says, a little breathless. “Ever.” 

Smiling, Jack boops his nose. “I love you. I love you.”

“Love you more,” Mark rumbles in response. 

They kiss again, this time with something heavier, sharper in intensity. Mark’s hands wander up his back, and Jack shivers when he digs his nails in, anchoring him there. Jack rolls his hips down, and Mark snarls, low and primal, moving his lips to bite down on his shoulder. 

“I mean it, you two!” Felix’s voice carries from the room over. “Out of bed! Quit fucking!” 

Letting out a short, exasperated sigh, Jack reluctantly heaves himself off, scanning the room for where he’d abandoned his clothes the night before. 

When they’re dressed, Mark is the first one to reach the door. Jack wants to follow him, but something roots him to his spot, and he feels frozen there. 

Mark looks back at him, brows knitting together in curiosity. “Jack?”

And he stays there. Glued to his spot. Something is crawling in his chest, but it’s not bad. It’s not an awful feeling. 

Staring at him, Jack feels his eyes well with tears, as though the events of last night wash into him, all of a sudden. Covering his mouth, he lets out an ungodly whimper, and then Mark’s upon him.

“Jack,” he murmurs, cradling his face. “Dear heart, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“I don’t know,” he says, and then, bubbling out of his chest, he _laughs_. “I’m…”

Tears are rolling down his cheeks, warm and sticky, but he’s still laughing. It’s such a strange feeling, mixed together in the most bizarre of ways--he’s not sure if he’s ever cried because he was happy.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Jack admits, shaking his head. He touches Mark’s hands, holding them there. “And I guess I--you’re...you’re here now. And you’re safe. And I guess that’s just--that’s all hitting me now.” 

Mark’s eyes are warm, brushing his thumbs along his cheekbones. The gesture itself causes more of that bizarre feeling to crawl within him, sad and happy all at once. He feels like he’s drowning, but in the best possible way. 

“I’m here now,” Mark says gently. “And I will be, for as long as you want me.”

“Forever would be ideal,” Jack laughs. “If that’s okay with you.” 

For a moment, Mark says nothing, and Jack sniffles, wiping at his eyes. He’s got a smile on his face that hurts his cheeks, and he’s not sure he’s ever been this happy before. Mark takes his hands, lacing their fingers together. 

“Forever’s a good start,” he murmurs, and Jack’s chest tightens, the implication setting a fire within him. 

The _I love you_ is unspoken, but it’s there, and Jack knows it’s palpable between them. His heart feels like it’s not his own anymore--that it’s resting in Mark’s hands, in his chest, and there’s no place he’d rather it be. It’s safe there, just as Mark’s is safe within his own. 

“You two are taking _forever_!” Felix shrieks. “Do _not_ let this wonderful food I made go to waste! I will send your mother, McLoughlin!” 

Jack erupts into a fit of giggles, and Mark’s own soon follow, and Jack could get used to the sound of them laughing together. It’s like music, a melody only the two of them know, and it’s brilliant. 

“Come on,” Mark says, squeezing his hand. “They’re waiting.” 

He leads him out of the room, and finally-- _finally_ \--Jack feels at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for commenting, reading, and leaving kudos! It really means the world to me, and it's the entire reason I'm still here, still writing. I can't thank you all enough.
> 
> As always, feel free to come chat with me over at galaxyghosty.tumblr.com! I love hearing from you guys!! :D


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